Patient History De-Identification with anonym.plus

Healthcare Solution · Clinical Documentation · HIPAA Safe Harbor (45 CFR §164.514(b))

Patient-history de-identification is the removal of IDs from the medical, social, and family parts of a file. It meets HIPAA Safe Harbor (45 CFR §164.514(b)). anonym.plus runs locally, with care for the social and family parts that hold the most indirect clues.

When this applies

A full history is gold for teaching and research. But the social part (job, habits, place) and the family part (named kin, their illness) are dense with indirect clues that must go.

How anonym.plus handles it

1. Load the file into anonym.plus on your device.
2. It scans the medical, social, and family parts.
3. Named kin, jobs, and places get flagged as indirect clues.
4. Swap them so the story still flows.
5. Save the clean history on your device.

What you need to provide

• The history file (DOCX, PDF, or EHR export).
• An operator (Replace keeps the story readable).
• Optional label map for family members.

PHI entity types detected

Compliance achieved

• Supports HIPAA Safe Harbor (45 CFR §164.514(b)) across all parts.
• Catches job, place, and family clues as indirect IDs.
• Local-only — a sensitive file is never uploaded.

Limitations & cautions

The social and family parts are the hardest to fully clear. A rare job in a small town, or a named relative's rare illness, can re-identify after direct IDs go. Review these parts and use Expert Determination for odd cases.